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ALABAMA BATTLES CLERGY IN PUSHING FOR LOTTERY

Gov. Don Siegelman is asking Alabama voters to ignore their church leaders and get in line with other Southern states that are bucking the Bible Belt image and cashing in on gambling to help pay for schools and college scholarships.

Ministers are condemning the governor's proposed state lottery, saying it would replace respect for hard work with get-rich-quick dreams. But Siegelman points to Georgia, where a lottery has funded college scholarships since 1993.